1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bacterial composition for the treatment of colibacillosis on animal farms, in particular poultry farms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Poultry is the second most widely consumed meat in the world, with more than 91 million tonnes being consumed in 2009.
French production amounts to about 1,650,000 tonnes CWE (carcass weight equivalent), 50% of which is chicken, which is considerable.
Infection by the bacterium Escherichia coli, which represents a very large proportion of bacterial infections in poultry, constitutes a real plague for poultry farmers and can lead to very considerable economic losses.
In birds, the bacterium Escherichia coli generally corresponds to an opportunistic contaminating agent which creates infections in the presence of various contaminating factors: intensive farming technique, farming conditions (inadequacy in terms of the management of water quality, ventilation, heating, etc.), presence of viruses or of various pathogenic bacteria, etc.
These contaminating factors lead to weakening and immunodepression of the animals, allowing E. coli to infect them, with all the harmful consequences that result.
In order to combat this plague, poultry farmers endeavour to take as many systematic preventive measures as possible in order to ensure on their farms strict hygiene conditions which will prevent as far as possible the development of pathogenic germs, to that end, they in particular carry out regular cleaning and disinfection operations on their premises, especially during periods of depopulation.
Another essential requirement for combating the development of pathogenic germs consists in ensuring that the drinking water for the poultry is always of impeccable quality, even and especially in the drinking troughs.
In parallel with these preventive treatments, the only curative treatment currently proposed to poultry farmers for treating colibacillosis which has already been declared is antibiotic therapy, which has many disadvantages.
First of all, such a treatment is increasingly difficult to prescribe owing to the early slaughter of the animals, considerable waiting times, etc.
However, the main disadvantage of antibiotic treatment in veterinary medicine is linked to the increasing phenomena of antibiotic resistance: consequently, in order not to foster the emergence of germs which are resistant to multiple antibiotics, health authorities are currently very vigilant regarding the use of antibiotics on farms, and for that reason, the use of some antibiotics may even be limited or even prohibited in the shorter or longer term.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to propose to poultry farmers a means of treating already declared colibacillosis which can constitute an alternative to antibiotic therapy.